(Going slightly backwards) Friday and the eye fiasco

Friday we all had a great last day of school. It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed our teachers so much (I believe Marta snuck off to the market with hers to get some fruit, lol!)

After school we got busy packing while Tim ran off to the bank to get enough money for the weekend. We had a 4pm shuttle scheduled to Panajachel, a two hour drive from Antigua through the mountains to a volcanic lake, surrounded by 3 other volcanoes. We were excited to go and had already received a call that Reyna and the family had arrived and we waiting for us.

About 2:40pm I started to realize that my eye was getting worse, not better. I began to worry and wonder if I got to Panajachel whether there would be a doctor I could see if I needed one, especially in a smaller village and especially on the weekend. My last visit to the optomotrist had taken about 45 minutes including going to the pharmacy, so I decided I'd better try to go see him again quickly before we left. However, the last time I had gone, I had gone with my teacher and didn't quite remember how to get there, so I ran down to the office to get directions. They drew me a map, I ran back upstairs to tell Tim I was going and to get the key and then I was off.

About half way there I realized I had forgotten my map! Thinking I didn't have time to go back and get it I kept going hoping I would remember enough to find it. JUST as I was about to PASS the little mall area where the office was, the Optomotrist stepped out onto the sidewalk DIRECTLY in front of me! I was stunned, took one look at him, pointed at him and said, "I was just coming to see you!" He turned right around and headed back into the mall with me. This time he examined my eye with his little hand-held light gadget about twice as long as the last time, spending quite a bit of time comparing both eyes. When he finally finished, he said that I really needed to go see someone with better equipment. Oh, dear, I thought, not good for my eye or our schedule.

As he looked up the Opthomologist's office and phone number I looked up our travel agency and called them to tell them we wouldn't make our 4pm shuttle. He asked if I wanted it rescheduled for 5:30pm and I said I wasn't sure when I'd be ready and that I'd call him. By then the Optomotrist had the information I needed and gave it to me. I looked at it and asked him where it was. He didn't know and couldn't find a map in the phone book, so he said my best bet was to take a little "tuk-tuk". These are little 3 wheeled vehicles with canvas tops that basically fit the driver and two people in the back. I had never taken one before, let alone by myself, so he came back out to the street to help me hail one. He was a sweet man from Columbia, that had spent 6 years working in Costa Rica and had been in Guatemala only 2 years. When we decided the street was too quiet to find a tuk-tuk and that I needed to head down further to toward the market, he said good-bye and asked me to come back and tell him what was wrong with my eye, if I had a chance. I promised him I would, if I could.

I headed down the street and quickly found an available tuk-tuk. The driver looked a little confused at first, and then nodded his head "yes" and we were off. All the streets in Antigua are very old cobblestone and I'm not sure whether tuk-tuks even have shocks, so it was a loud bumpy ride as I frantically tried to count blocks and keep my bearings. We finally stopped on a street and he pointed across the street and said, "There it is" (in Spanish, of course). I looked across the street and was horrified to see what looked like an abandoned warehouse. I said, "No, that's not it" in my very best Spanish. He argued with me and said it is, "Look, number 1" I said, "No, that says 18" After arguing for another round he finally got out and asked a man on the street who pointed down the street further. I was SO relieved. Finally, I spotted the sign for the office, tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. He stopped. I was told not to pay any more than 10 Quetzales, "no more!". He charged me 20, of course, but by then I didn't really care.

As I walked up to the glass and steel bar door I had a moment of panic as the tuk-tuk drove away and the office looked closed. I read the sign "Abierto" and desperately searched my brain thinking, "That means open, doesn't it?" As I peered in, a young woman at the desk gestured how to open the door. What a relief!

I explained that I had a problem with my eye and she said they work by appointment only and she could give me one on Monday. I explained that I was leaving for the weekend and needed to see someone right away. She said she could fit me in on an emergency basis, but that I'd need to wait until all the other patients were seen first. I figured I didn't have a better option, so I went to sit down and wait. Then I realized that Tim didn't know where I was, nor that I had post-poned our shuttle. I went back to the desk to see if I could find the phone number for our school to call him. Neither I nor the young woman could find it in the phone book. She said, "It's going to be a while, so if you want to go home and then come back, that's fine." I started to cry. I said, "I just took a tuk-tuk here and I don't even know where "home" is and I was supposed to be leaving for Panajachel in 20 minutes..." At that point she began to have more compassion and said she'd ask the two patients in front of me if I could go before them. I thanked her, sat back down to wait and just cried some more. :)

In a few minutes I got myself together enough to think about calling home for some help (I'm so grateful the cell phones work internationally there!). I called Barb, but no answer. I called Mary and said she was taking a nap and could we talk later? Ahhh! LOL! I explained that I was in a "situation" and really needed her help, so she got up to look up the school number on the internet. (Thanks for the help, Mare!) I called the school and was able to reach Tim and tell him what was up. That helped a lot. A few minutes later the doctor arrived for his afternoon appointments. The young woman came over and asked the 2 patients (a family who spoke English and so were aware of what was going on) if I could go before them. They said, "No!" So, I cried some more! LOL!

Finally, about 4:30pm I was called in. The doctor spoke English, which was a HUGE blessing. He did a thorough exam and said I had inflamation behind the cornea but that he needed to dialate my eyes to make sure there wasn't anything more going on in the back of my eye. I thought, "Oh, great! More time!" So, back in the waiting room I went for 3 rounds of drops. Meanwhile, a young man came in with a patch over his eye. When the doctor came to call the next lady, she said, "Oh, no, take him first!" She warmed my heart. She started talking away to me in Spanish and then paused, "Do you understand?" I said, "Only a little" and then she switched to English and we had the most pleasant conversation. What an angel. Her daughter was there (who was probably my age) trying on glasses and we all got laughing at the different ones she tried. In time, the man came back out to join me to get his eyes dialated and the doctor took the woman and her daughter in. The only drawback to her friendliness was that it took quite a bit longer for her appointment as she was good friends with the doctor! LOL! But when she went to leave, she looked back and waved and I and the other man waved at her. What a sweetie!

While that was happening, Tim called to say the driver had shown up at the school to pick us up! It was 5:15pm. I explained that I had told him I didn't know when I would be ready and not to come until I called. I got off the phone and called the travel agency and happened to get the owner. She explained that it was getting much too late to travel to Panajachel and that if I wasn't ready, she didn't think we should go (it's a dangerous drive at night). She said she'd call the driver and talk with him. A few minutes later Tim called back to say we weren't going, that we were set up with an 8am shuttle the next day and could stay another night in our apartment. Whew!

Finally, I got back in to see the doctor and the back of my eye checked out alright. He prescribed 50mg of Prednisone (ugh!), Prednisone drops and dialator drops. I was able to get the drops from him, but needed to go to the pharmacy to get the pills. I paid my bill and then asked how far the main square was from the office. The woman said it was 5 blocks--a straight shot. So, I headed out (loathing to pay double for another tuk-tuk) and started trucking. It was 6pm and dusk was falling. I made it back to the square, and from there headed home. Because I promised, I went one block out of my way to try to find the Optomotrist, but his office was closed for the night. :( I made it home just as darkness fell, tired, safe and happy.

Next as we gathered ourselves together to head out for dinner, I realized we needed to call Reyna to tell her we wouldn't be able to make it to Panajachel that night. I called and asked if she was in the hotel and she said, yes. I sighed with relief and let her talk with Marta. But then Marta gave me the phone back and Reyna put the woman at the hotel on the phone. She explained in English that the family was here but they have no money. I said one of the rooms is for them. She explained that they couldn't let them in the hotel room without the travel agency voucher that WE HAD! Ahhh!!!! I frantically tried to explain about the doctors and that we were coming in the morning and we had paid for the room, etc. and she kept saying they couldn't do it without the voucher and then my cell phone went DEAD--no more minutes! Ahhhh!!!!!!!! So, we started rushing to get out the door to the market to get more minutes when my phone rang again (we found out it works for incoming calls when there are no minutes left!). The woman continued to insist that we had to send her the voucher some how and I finally said, "We're coming in the morning at 8am, we'll have the voucher for you, I promise!" She finally laughed (!) and said okay and we hung up.

Then we went off to the market for more cell phone minutes, my medication and then to Pollo Campero. When we finally ordered I called Reyna back and she kept saying (in English), "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said, "Todo bien? Todo bien?" And she said, "Si, todo bien, Thank you!!!" I started crying and laughing! I was so relieved!